Operation HEIST
by William Banner
Summary: It's March of 1945, and the Third Reich is collapsing. However, the Germans are either destroying or hiding their experimental weapons. Lieutenant William Holt of the OSS must lead a Ranger platoon into a fort to capture new and experimental weaponry.


Operation HEIST 

March 14th, 1945. 0835 hours

First Lieutenant William Holt, Office of Strategic Services, walked into the headquarters of the First Army, under General Omar Bradley. He was supposed to report to a Colonel Saunders, a fellow OSS operative. He walked into the correct room, and stopped dead in his tracks. Fully 44 men, all Rangers, were in the same room as he was. The colonel saw Lt. Holt walk in.

"Holt, there you are! I was wondering when you would show up, soldier. Take a seat." Holt sat down, and a slight cough came from the seat next to him. He looked, and saw Manon sitting next to him, a smile on her face.

"Well, Holt, it would seem we are going on the same mission." Holt nodded.

"Manon, do you know what is going on here? I though I was going to have a briefing and go out in the field, but all I see are a bunch of Rangers. I don't like it." Holt finished. Colonel Saunders walked up on stage. He was a tall man, in his late forties, but moved like a man twenty years his junior. He had a stoic look on his face, and Holt was again put on guard.

"Gentlemen-and lady," He added, with a small smile, "You are here today because you are some of the very best that this country has brought to war. You have all had field experience, and so this mission should be just about right for you. The Nazis, as you know, have been hiding experimental weapons and designs from Allied operatives for years now. This was reinforced recently when an atomic bomb went off during the Battle of the Bulge. The man who disabled the bomb is with us right here in this very room." He added, motioning to Holt. The Rangers all leaned forward to take a look at him, and Will suddenly realized that all of the Rangers were all in the enlisted ranks, not one of them an officer. _This isn't right. There has to be an officer with these guys-or will I be their CO for whatever is happening?_ Colonel Saunders resumed his briefing.

"We have intelligence that a German convoy is being sent to the city of Kassel, well behind the German line. That convoy is from Berlin, and, according to the intelligence, sent on direct orders from Himmler. This convoy has plans and prototypes of some new weapons we would like to get our hands on. The plans are the only things necessary, but the prototypes would be nice. The intelligence indicates that the schematics and prototypes are being held in Fort Hanuersen, three miles west of the city. This is where you Rangers come in. The mission is codenamed Operation HEIST.

"You are to steal these plans, and if possible, prototypes of infantry weapons. Specifically, you are ordered to find and capture any and all atomic weapons documents. We'll drop you in by parachute in one week, coinciding with a diversionary attack on the German lines. You'll be dropped about a half-mile away from the fort, and will hold position there until dusk the next day, when a bombing raid is being staged on the fort. It will be short, and aimed at the anti-aircraft batteries stationed outside the walls. This will give you enough time to get into the underground tunnel complex, fight your way to where the convoy is being held, capture the materials, and get back to the landing zone, where you will be picked up by a special transportation unit. Lieutenant Holt over there will be your CO for the mission. Any questions?" The colonel finished. A staff sergeant spoke.

"Which section of the fort is the convoy being held?" He asked. The colonel nodded.

"Good question. The convoy will be stopped in the southwest section of the fort. That's good for you guys, and it will mean a tighter perimeter. Anything else." No one spoke. "All right. Now, just because the Germans are investing in new weapons doesn't mean we haven't." The colonel waved to a major, who came on stage.

"I am Major Wheeler, head of the infantry weapons R&D section of the War Department. Upon examining the Sturmgewher 44, we've devised a new rifle for the infantry." He flipped a sheet off of a table, revealing four weapons. They all looked like BARs, but were different from each other. Wheeler picked up the first one.

"This here is the Browning Infantry Assault Rifle, or BIAR for short." The major pronounced it _bi-ar_. "It has a thirty round magazine, and two modes of firing-slow automatic and fast automatic. The second version is a more compact version of the BIAR, the third is a squad support version, and the last is a sharpshooter variant. We'll give you a week to get acquainted with these weapons, so you will be comfortable in the mission. Good luck." The major finished, and the group went out of the room. Holt found the senior NCO, a big bear of a soldier named Brian Walls. First Sergeant Walls was smoking a cigar, and promptly put it out when he saw Lt. Holt.

"Sir. A pleasure to meet you." Holt waved him down.

"Take it easy. I'm only your CO for this mission, not for the rest of the war. Okay, who's in charge of what squad? I need to know who I can count on to follow my lead," Holt clarified. Sergeant Walls nodded.

"Well, there's Santiago in charge of first squad. He's pretty good, knows about cover and maneuver tactics a lot. Knowles in second squad is good with supporting fire. McMahon in third squad is good for recon as well as assault. Graham is in charge of fourth squad-he's your jack-of-all-trades. The guy knows practically everything about every element of warfare, but he doesn't want to master one. Finally, I'm in charge of fifth squad, mainly communications and stuff. Those guys can be counted on." Walls concluded. Holt looked at the BIARs.

"How soon can the guys get used to handling those things over there? From my understanding of Allied forces, you try to stick to the weapons you are issued, right?" Walls nodded, then asked a question of William.

"I've pretty much tagged you for OSS. Think a pencil-pusher can work out well in the field?" Walls hadn't heard the comment about Holt and the Battle of the Bulge. The lieutenant shot a savage glance over at him.

"Sergeant, I've fought more Germans than you've had action in more places than you've been. I was in Operation CHARIOT, crashing into the docks at St. Nazaire. I've fought in the sands of North Africa, blowing up V2 rockets. I've nearly frozen my ass off outside of Stalingrad and on top of Mamayev Hill. I blew up a German atomic bomb that would have killed a lot of Americans had it been set off. I have handled Mausers, MP44s, Stg44s, Mosin-Nagants, almost every firearm in this war. My suggestion is you get your men up to speed on these weapons as fast as we can. We're done here," he growled, then walked out. Walls was spooked. He turned to see Corporal Chris Santiago staring at him. Walls summarized everything he knew to Santiago in one sentence.

"That is one guy you don't want to fuck with."

"Agreed. That's one rough son of a bitch. I saw some of the medals on his uniform. I would sure like to know where they came from. One of them is a Soviet medal." Walls looked at the wall in thought. _So, we might have a communist on our hands. Well, we'll see about that…_

Manon looked over the plans for the assault one more time. _There are too many unknowns,_ she thought. _Reconnaissance photos can only show so much. Agents can smuggle only so much information out. What troops are in the mission area, what type are they, all of that we don't know._ "_Merde_!" She swore. A chuckle came from behind.

"Having fun over there? Let me guess, you're not satisfied with the information." Holt said. It was not a question. Manon nodded.

"_Mon ami_, you Americans, for all your expertise, can only draw so much from photos and reports. If the mission was set up the way I would like it, we would be dropped in covertly, watch the fort for a week, then make our move. It would allow us to find posts, possible guards to be bribed, and-" Holt cut her off.

"And by the time we launched the raid, the convoy would be down in Munich by that time. Manon, we just need to take a few things on faith. How do you think I survived CHARIOT and Stalingrad? It wasn't by watching every single German in sight for a few days. The raid we are planning," William said, leaning over the table and looked at the photos and maps, "Is supposed to be one of surprise, speed, and overwhelming firepower. I've worked with Airborne troops, and they're pretty gung-ho. The Soviets were only good if an officer was leading them, and the Brits were excellent with their NCOs. Those are the main reasons I'm here today. You just need to take things on faith. Now, from what I can see, we drop by this tunnel entrance, fight our way to the garage, capture as much stuff as we can and blow the crap out of what we can't. Then we bogie on down the tunnel, and run for the woods. If that air raid works, the guns on the walls facing us won't be a problem. If that doesn't work, we have some long-range PIATs to take care of that." Manon nodded, then looked at Holt.

"I have been inside the fort, and their reaction times are impressive. We need to make sure that our men will be able to handle the SS they have there. I know because I fought against them there. Very scary bunch, them." Holt nodded, and a knock came at the door.

"Come in." William said simply. A Ranger lieutenant came in, bearing a box and some diagrams. He saluted, and Holt returned the gesture.

"Sir, I'm Lieutenant Sam MacPhearson. This is for you, sir." The lieutenant handed over the black box. Inside were the two shiny, silver bars of a captain.

"Congratulations, _Captain_ Holt." Manon grinned. MacPhearson went to the table.

"Sir, what we have here in these diagrams are the blueprints for the section of the fort where the convoy will be." The lieutenant traced his hand along the plans. "We'll go in through this tunnel, taking out the machine gun nests along the way. We'll go up these stairs, take a right, and enter the garage. We'll hold a perimeter there while second squad gets the prototypes and documents, then fall back, laying down suppressive fire with the BIARs. We'll get to our original LZ, then hold a perimeter until the transport convoy arrives." Holt nodded.

"Just one question about the transport convoy: Do they expect us to make a friggin' airfield? Sure as hell it isn't going to be trucks." The lieutenant shrugged and shook his head.

"Unknown, sir. The plans call for something that will land in the field, get us, then take off. Whatever that is, we'll find out." Holt nodded, then turned thoughtful.

"I wonder if it's the same type that got Corporal Griffin out…Yes, that would make a lot of sense." Manon turned.

"What are you talking about? There isn't any craft that can land without an airstrip!" Holt shook his head.

"Well, there was this OSS guy, a Marine corporal named Griffin. He's still around, but when he was escaping a temple in Burma, some weird thing called a helicopter got him and his squad out. This so-called 'helicopter' didn't need an airfield; it just dropped down, landed, then went straight up. Right now Griffin is planning prison camp raids in the Pacific, so we'll see what comes out of that." Manon nodded, now appreciating the fact that the Americans had invested time and resources into such oddities of transportation. MacPhearson resumed his brief.

"Here are a few of the things that Command wants you to bring back." He handed over the list to Holt. Among the items were things like assault rifles, anti-tank rocket launchers, to diagrams of artillery pieces, new tank model blueprints, and more. _A manageable list, but we'll need to hustle while in the fort. A good plan, so far._

"Manon, MacPhearson, I think the plan is in good hands with you two. Figure out the details, and brief me as soon as you can. Carry on." With that, Holt walked out of the room, heading for the shooting range.


End file.
